CROATIA'S GOAL IS COOPERATION WITH ENTIRE BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA - MESIC

ZAGREB, Nov 28 (Hina) - Croatia's goal in relation to the neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina is cooperation with the country as a whole, Croatian President Stipe Mesic said Tuesday in comment on the fate of the Agreement on Special Relations between Croatia and the Bosnian Federation. "I believe that what has been signed should be followed, at the end it can be useful for everyone, but I think formal ties should not be established, as that would go against what we wished to accomplish. We can cooperate, so we should cooperate with the entire Bosnia- Herzegovina," Mesic told a news conference in Zagreb. "This must be our goal -- cooperation with the entire Bosnia- Herzegovina, as our economies are compatible. And in this sense cooperation should be sought for," Mesic said. He recalled the agreement on special relations between Croatia and the Bosnian Croat/Moslem entity had been planned during the times when talks had been held on confederate ties between Croatia and the Bosnian Federation, such as through the Washington Agreement. Ideas on special relations, as the current invitations from Serbia for special ties with Republika Srpska belong to times before the recent democratic changes, Mesic assessed. Bosnia-Herzegovina must solve current problems and "turn forward with the aim of joining the EU, and not tie itself to a policy which is no longer on the scene". He assessed Croatia could achieve further savings in its budget by diminishing the budgetary item from which the Bosnian Federation's army is being financed. Commenting on the recently held elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mesic assessed the dissatisfaction of the international community could have been avoided by having used equal electoral regulations for both entities. "Many problems had to be solved prior to this, so results would have been different," Mesic asserted. He estimated Bosnian Croats ought not to have held a referendum on the day of elections, as this was a breach of electoral silence. Asked to comment on some assessments by Croatian politicians that the Zagreb Declaration was a door-opener or a new Balkan association, Mesic said the possibility of creation of any new Yugoslavia was as remote as the restoration of the Austro-Hungarian empire. (hina) lml jn